Heritage College

Founded 1988 | Gatineau, QC

Located in Gatineau, Heritage College is the only public and tuition-free English-language college in western Quebec. The college is located 15 minutes from downtown Ottawa, in the heart of the National Capital Region, which borders Gatineau Park. The school began as a campus of Cégep de l’Outaouais with seven students but became autonomous in 1988, with 900 students. Heritage offers pre-university and technical programs, both of which lead to a college diploma and entry into the labour force. The school also offers preparatory Springboard programs and workshops, such as backyard beekeeping.

The Centre for Continuing Education offers one-year programs that lead to attestations of college studies and recognition of acquired competencies (which provide academic credit for skills and knowledge gained through practical experience), evening and weekend courses, and workshops. Technical programs include nursing, computer science, electronics and information technology, special care counselling, accounting and management technology. Pre-university courses include liberal arts, science, social science and visual arts.

Heritage has men’s and women’s teams in basketball and soccer, and women’s rugby and volleyball teams. Extracurricular activities include a drama club called the Bacchus Players, which stages a play every year, and SQUAD, a social justice movement that aims to raise awareness for social, animal, environmental, human and political rights.